[Age 5. Though you were taken back by the Pokémon called Diancie, your life has not changed much.]
[Still being just a mineral, you could not do much—only slowly accumulate energy.]
[Fortunately, Diancie seems to treat you as a silent friend.]
"Got scolded by her highness again today… mm… do you think I could ever surpass her?"
Diancie puffed her cheeks in frustration, holding up the pink diamond that matched her own color.
Talking to a rock wasn't a sign her head had gone wrong.
It was just that—
Because of her special status, the other Carbink always carried a certain reverence toward her.
In such an environment, it was hard to make real friends, or find anyone she could pour her troubles out to.
Chatting in whispers with the stone she had picked up had become her new habit.
After talking for a long while, she seemed to tire, and finally fell quiet.
Staring at the unmoving gem that looked so much like her, she felt a strange heaviness in her chest.
"If only you could come to life…"
"You're really useless!"
A year was long enough for her to confirm it was nothing but an ordinary stone.
Just as her highness had judged from the start.
---
[Age 6. This year, you clearly feel your mind has sharpened. The fog that once plagued you has finally lifted completely.]
[At the same time, you notice a faint link between yourself and Diancie.]
[When you drift too far from her, your consciousness grows hazy again, leaving you puzzled.]
Bang.
That day, Diancie hurried back into her chamber.
On her little face Elias immediately caught the traces of anger and sadness.
"Elias…"
She wiped the moisture from her eyes and cradled the stone she had placed so carefully.
Elias—that was the name she had given him.
Her instinct told her this was the name he should have.
From a perspective she could not see, a vague shadow floated just above the gem.
Elias looked at her helplessly.
As expected—she had probably been scolded again.
Sure enough—
"I just said I wanted to sneak one glance at the human world, and her highness scolded me like that."
"It's just one glance… she's really too much!"
Diancie waved her little fists, words spilling out like grievances in court.
Her strength had not advanced at all, and she couldn't create diamonds the way Diancie throughout history had.
Even producing a false diamond that vanished in moments was almost beyond her.
Under such circumstances, learning anything else felt meaningless.
And so—
She had thought of going to the human world.
With the mysterious powers of humans, maybe… just maybe they could solve her problem.
Of course, it had only been a fleeting thought.
But even so, it had earned her harsh criticism.
Her heart brimmed with grievance.
All the frustrations built up over days erupted at once.
---
[Watching Diancie's tear-brimmed eyes from above, you could only feel helpless.]
[Your instincts tell you it won't be long before you can speak with her.]
[By then, maybe there will be a way to help with her troubles—but until then, you can only watch her struggle.]
In her sadness, Diancie suddenly seemed to resolve something.
She lifted "Elias" high, her face serious.
"I'm leaving the mines. I want to see the world outside!"
Ordinary Carbink could go wherever they pleased, yet she, the princess, was shackled at every turn.
The unfairness made her seethe.
Since she had decided to run away, Diancie wasted no time.
She carried nothing with her—only hugged her "friend" Elias tightly.
Dodging the Carbink on patrol, she slipped into the tunnel she had scouted before.
"Elias, you know, her highness's temper's been really bad lately…"
She chatted to herself as she walked.
Inside the "stone," Elias listened quietly.
Like Diancie, he had only been "born" recently, his knowledge still a blank slate.
The only information he had came from her casual complaints and mutterings.
After walking the tunnel for a long while, Diancie finally reached the exit.
Recognizing the mine where she had once picked up Elias, she relaxed a little.
Two years later, nothing had changed. Humans had not returned.
Though she had boasted of venturing into the human world, once she calmed down, she was afraid.
She decided instead to stay just in the forest, and return once some time had passed.
But as she stepped from the cave—she froze.
"Why is the forest so quiet…?"
Her arms tightened protectively around the gem, unease stirring.
Silence underground was normal—few Pokémon lived there.
But in a forest—where there should have been many Pokémon—why was it so quiet?
So quiet she could hear a pin drop.
Diancie looked around, guessing maybe it was just because it was night.
Breathing out slowly, she bounced forward with the gem in her arms, stepping into the forest.
She recalled there was a large lake at the forest's center.
The scenery there was beautiful—she would go and sit by it.
Following her memory, she soon arrived near the lake.
But she frowned—the terrain looked so different from last time.
Some of the trees were bare, their branches skeletal—not at all what summer trees should look like.
At least…
The lake itself remained, its beauty unspoiled.
Sitting down on the grassy bank, Diancie finally felt a little at peace.
"Elias… they say I was only born because her highness forced it with her powers."
"When I become stronger, I'll make you into a Diancie too. How about that?"
She spoke to him as if to set herself a goal, a reason to become stronger.
But halfway through, her voice stopped.
—For in her vision, not far away, a statue stood in the grass.
The statue was of a Froakie, carved with lifelike detail—even the expression on its face was captured vividly.
And yet—as a Pokémon sensitive to stone, Diancie felt an indescribable wrongness.
---
T/N: powerstones rewards will be tomorrow, uhhh prob no extra chaps tomorrow